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Chris Spence should get another chance

The college of teachers' decision to strip the former TDSB director of his teaching certificate was a disproportionate response to Spence's mistakes.

Former Toronto District School Board director Chris Spence had always been motivated first and foremost by the welfare of our children, writes Bruce Davis. (Steve Russell / Toronto Star)

By Bruce Davis

Fri., Jan. 27, 2017

I was gob-smacked last week when I learned of the Ontario College of Teachers’ decision to revoke Chris Spence’s teaching qualifications. Dumbfounded. Confused. Irritated. Angry.

I thought I was witnessing a professional lynching.

Spence had always been motivated first and foremost by the welfare of our children, especially those at risk of falling through the cracks; he’d been a courageous educational leader who supported front-line teachers and behind-the-scenes administrators. As the Toronto District School Board’s Director of Education he spent more time in schools than any of his predecessors, he got his hands dirty, had little time for boardroom back-scratching or game-playing. Sure he was ambitious, but as a TDSB trustee and chair I was never threatened by that – and crucially, neither were the kids.

I was on the committee of trustees that hired Chris Spence. It was a grueling process that took more than six months. We scoured North America looking for the best candidate when we lured him back from Hamilton-Wentworth to Toronto where he had risen through the ranks from teacher to principal to superintendent, where he started the Boys to Men initiative, mentoring students and raising their expectations of themselves.

Spence paid dearly for his acts of plagiarism first revealed by the Toronto Star, resulting in the loss of his professional stature, his salary, and his reputation in the community. But he took responsibility and owned up to his mistakes.

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In the context of Spence’s clear remorse for his acts, I saw an opportunity for Spence to talk to kids about academic ethics, about putting in the hard work and not taking short-cuts, and about taking responsibility when you mess-up. I believe Spence’s fall from grace remains a teachable moment.

This week I dug deeper into the discipline process for teachers in Ontario. The Ontario College of Teachers has a three-person panel that hears complaints. Three years after Spence resigned as Director of Education the complaint about him was officially heard. In essence, the panel concluded that Spence failed to maintain the standards of the profession because he gave speeches and wrote articles and blog posts and books which they allege contained plagiarized material. This month they decided that he would lose his certification to teach. A written decision is coming.

In my view, to a reasonable person taking away Spence’s certification to teach is not proportional to the magnitude of his mistakes. On the contrary – it is patently unfair and heavy-handed.

Combing through the decisions that the College of Teachers renders each year reveals dozens of teachers revoked, suspended, and reprimanded for transgressions. A teacher found guilty of having sex with a student: teaching certificate revoked. Pushing or hitting a student and calling him "a faggot": three-month suspension. Stealing $1,100 from a colleague: reprimanded. Beating a prostitute while in British Columbia: three-month suspension. Texting inappropriately, hanging out with students while they drank and smoked weed: nine-month suspension. These are examples of what I would argue are greater betrayals of trust, yet none resulted in lifetime decertification. I could not find one example of a teacher losing his or her teaching certificate for plagiarism.

Last week I also read in the Star of a physician suspended by the College of Physicians and Surgeons for only nine months after he was found guilty of groping multiple patients. That one, too, left my head shaking.

I stand by Chris Spence. If the opportunity had been presented, I would have advocated on his behalf at his discipline hearing. I would have told the panel without equivocation or doubt: this man should still be teaching children and leading teachers.

Bruce Davis is the former Chair of the Toronto District School Board and was a trustee from 2000-2010. He is currently the President of the Gananoque Brewing Company and a public policy consultant.

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